SHORT RESPONSE
Read the following excerpt from "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang:
I had a different suspicion, a darker one that I dared not voice, but
it decided my course of action; I would proceed with my
experiment....
Assembling all of this equipment took months, but I could not
afford to be anything less than meticulous. Once the
preparations were complete, I was able to place each of my
hands on a nest of knobs and levers and control a pair of
manipulators situated behind my head, and use the periscope to
see what they worked on. I would then be able to dissect my own
brain....
We are not really consuming air at all. The amount of air that I
draw from each day's new pair of lungs is exactly as much as
seeps out through the joints of my limbs and the seams of my
casing, exactly as much as I am adding to the atmosphere
around me; all I am doing is converting air at high pressure to air
at low. With every movement of my body, I contribute to the
equalization of pressure in our universe. With every thought that I
have, I hasten the arrival of that fatal equilibrium.

Identify two themes conveyed in this excerpt. How do these themes develop over the
course of the story? Be sure to refer to examples from the excerpt or story to
support your analysis.